Epigenetic reprogramming and regulation of neural cell fate using small molecules to cure neurological disorders: Is it possible

Mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent; The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine 2012was awarded to the scientists whom have played a major role in the discovery of this process. Thisreprogrammed cells that have been called induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) could be used in clinicalapplications to cure neurological disordes such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and also MultipleSclerosis . At first cellular reprogramming using defined genetic factors was the only way to produce iPSCs butthis approach has significant risks with respect to abnormal expression and genetic mutations. Recently,researchers have focused on cell reprogramming by non-viral and non-integrating compounds. Small moleculesas chemical and pharmacological tools for reprogramming and cell fate regulation have attracted wide attentionin the scientific community. Small molecules that target epigenetic processes and other cellular processes offerpowerful tools for reprogramming somatic cells and manipulating their fate to a desired cell type. Studies showthat specific small molecules (e.g., Valproic acid, Chir99021, and Repsox) and chemically defined media (e.g.,N2 and B27 supplements) have been effective in neural cell reprogramming and differentiation. There are severalstudies that have reported successful efforts of reprogramming neural cells and differentiation of this cells to thedesired neural ones. In this article the authors will review recent studies that have been published in this researcharea and will discuss the great opportunity of using small molecules in neural cell reprogramming and cell fatedetermination.

کلیدواژه ها:

Neurological disorders ، Neural cell ، Reprogramming ، Differentiation ، Epigenetics